Community and Self-Definition in the Book of Acts (original) (raw)
Related papers
2022
Having a social identity is part of everybody’s life experience. In a way, personal renewal in terms of spiritual life and individual and social identity, is also a valid description of a Christian’s experience of being saved from divine condemnation through Christ, and being transformed by the Spirit (John 1:12-13). As a passionate historian of the Gospel and of the Church, and an evangelist particularly interested in individual development and group psychology, Luke and his work is quite open for a detailed analysis from the point of view of the Social Identity Theory (SIT). From Tajfel’s emphasis on individual identity within a group, to Turner’s attention to groups interaction in greater or larger social constructs, one could readily expect to find certain relevant emphases on social and spiritual identity in Luke-Acts. The present article is focused on Luke’s use of personal pronouns, namely of first person plural (“we”) and their derivatives or associated vocabulary, arguing that they open a valuable door in exploring identity expressions and transition in the first-century Church. In actual terms, this opposition is not between "us" and "them", as it is an opposition between "us" and "you". The Christ group and the Jewish traditional group, are quite close, at least, at the beginning of the Church history.
Currents in Biblical Research
The study of Peter and Paul in the Acts of the Apostles has gone through primarily two methodological phases, a search for the historical Peter and Paul and a search for the literary Peter and Paul. In recent decades, the literary approaches to the Bible have begun to raise questions about the role of the reader in understanding texts and their characters, resulting in a few studies that raise the question of the interaction between the reader and the characters of Peter and Paul. This latter development constitutes an emerging third methodological phase, the search for the identity-forming Peter and Paul. At issue in this search is how those who interact with the Acts narrative, both ancient and modern readers, are affected by the presentation of characters of Peter and Paul.
2012
In Identity, Memory and Narrative in Early Christianity, Coleman Baker argues that “the narrative of Acts attempts the recategorization of Judean and non-Judean Christ followers … into a common ingroup by presenting Peter and Paul as prototypical of a common superordinate Christian identity in the midst of diversity and conflict within the Christ movement in the last decade of the first century CE” (p. xv). This recategorization is intended to establish the boundaries by which it can be seen who, from the Judean and Greco-Roman cultural groupings, is included in the Christian community and who is excluded from it. Drawing on narrative and reader-response approaches— especially Paul Ricoeur’s “three-fold process of narrative interaction” (p. 71)—Baker moves away from the quest for the “historical” Peter and Paul, past the “literary” Peter and Paul, and on to what Baker calls “an identity-forming Peter and Paul” (p. xvi). Baker proposes that such an approach builds on the vital but es...
The Missionary Nature of the Church in the Book of Acts. An Exegetical and Theological Study.
Icoana Credintei , 2018
The Acts of the Apostles speaks often about the social work of the Church through recurring concepts such as koinonia, mercy, hospitality and philanthropy. This paper deals with the ways that the Book of Acts promotes harmony in conditions of diversity (such as religious, cultural, or political pluralism). Several texts will be compared and interpreted to draw a clear picture of the Church’s call to serve the world and to witness Christian Faith in words and deeds. The world can be healed with the power of the Divine Word. This does not happen only by preaching and teaching, but also by acting and caring for the needed and the poor. The theological narrative of Acts shows how the Christian faith - the Way, as Luke likes to call it - grants a new understanding of reality and calls people to break the rules of worldly wisdom and to behave according to the wisdom of the Kingdom, where the principles of social relation are redefined through the lens of the Resurrection.
Christianos: Defining the Self in the Acts of the Apostles
Religion, Language, and Power, 2008
‘Christianos: Defining the Self in the Acts of the Apostles.’ Pages 167-85 in N. Green and M. Searle-Chatterjee (eds.), Religion, Language, and Power. Routledge Studies in Religion 10 (London and New York, Routledge, 2008).
The theology of God and the Gentile mission in Acts
1995
The present study aims to investigate Luke's theology of God in the accounts of the mission to the Gentiles in Acts. In Acts, God is portrayed as the cause of the mission. It is God who inaugurates and guides the Gentile mission. For Luke, God who acts is God who has fixed the times and seasons. The mission is described as part of God's times, past, present and future. It is mission by God. The Gentile mission is also mission about God. The "cause" of the mission becomes the content'. This fact is not widely recognised by studies in Luke-Acts. God' is prominent in the speeches in the Gentile mission narratives of Samaria (8: 4-25), Caesarea (10: 33- 43), Lystra (14: 8-18), Athens (17: 16-34) and Ephesus (19: 21- 41). We examine these narratives to analyse the speeches in their immediate contexts provided in the narrative itself. Except in Ac. 10, Luke's contexts contain details concerning Gentiles" belief and worship of god/goddess/gods which in Lu...
BT 805 The Theology of Luke-Acts
2009
This course will begin by reviewing the history of the interpretation of Luke and Acts and the relationship of these two books. This will lay a foundation for surveying several important theological themes found in Luke-Acts. Finally, this course will explore the use of Luke-Acts in contemporary biblical and constructive theology through research, interpretation, and theological synthesis. Course Purpose and Context: This course is part of the offerings for Asbury's Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Luke-Acts forms approximately one-third of the NT. Acts in particular is unique for its narrative of the early church in the NT. Therefore, trained scholars in Biblical Studies should be familiar with its contents, theological emphases, and history of interpretation. This course stands alongside the study of other major blocks of material in the canon, deals specifically with hermeneutical issues between text and theology, and picks up the history of interpretation in the modern period where the seminar in the history of biblical interpretation ends. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: State the major issues that shaped the interpretation of Luke-Acts in the ancient and modern contexts and explain how these issues continue to affect the interpretation of Luke's opus.
Pneuma, 2013
The two volumes under review come from scholars at very diffferent locations in their academic journeys. Luke Timothy Johnson, a seasoned veteran, prolifijic writer, and possibly the most important Lukan narrative critic of this generation, produces an exceptional work that summarizes, extends, and applies a litany of volumes devoted to Lukan studies. Aaron Kuecker, a comparative 'rookie,' examines Luke-Acts by way of resources from social identity theory and contemporary ethnicity theory in this revision of his dissertation under the supervision of Ben Witherington. Though Johnson and Kuecker sit at opposite ends of their academic careers, they are in concert with the exciting diversity of methodological approaches to Luke-Acts that continue to bring Luke's story to life and make it applicable. Johnson begins with an introduction to his methodological benchmark, an abridged guide to narrative analysis. He summarizes Luke's use of sources, the undeniable narrative unity of Luke-Acts, and the various literary and structural approaches employed by Luke. Johnson introduces readers to Luke's use of intricate rhetorical conventions such as literary/ programmatic prophecy, anticipation and fulfijillment, realization and actualization, and characterization. With his narrative method fijirmly established, Johnson shifts attention to Luke's employment of the prophet/prophecy motif. As Jesus and his followers experience the expected excitement that comes from prophet(ic) ministry, they share in similar rejection to the prophets of old for their candid proclamation of God's word. Luke sets up God's spokespersons as reliable Spirit-led characters that embody the prophetic vocation. The chain of prophets in Luke-Acts reaches back to Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah and links up to Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, John, Simeon, Anna, John, Jesus, and beyond. As the prophetic Spirit rests upon Jesus, the same Spirit enables the early and contemporary church to speak and act for God on behalf of other humans. According to Johnson, the prophetic witness of the early church established through Luke's story proves paradigmatic for contemporary prophets called by God in every age. Johnson shares strong afffijinities with Roger Stronstad's The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke and The Prophethood of All Believers; both declare that the message of the prophet functions as God's vision for humanity, a vision that, according to Johnson, may include a call for repentance/conversion, a shift of religious loyalties, and new perspectives on power. Like Jesus, all subsequent prophets embody poverty marked by shared possessions, and they model prayerful dependency upon God, dramatic itinerancy, and servant leadership for the early church. For Johnson, the prophetic witness of the early church fulfijills not only the message and sufffering of Jesus, but establishes the continuous example for God's people throughout Christendom. Though Kuecker represents a growing trend toward interdisciplinary approaches, he stands upon the shoulders of Johnson; Kuecker follows Johnson's foundational structural elements such as narrative unity and builds upon Johnson's engagement of Luke's prophetic
BT 805 W1 The Theology of Luke-Acts
2009
This course will begin by reviewing the history of the interpretation of Luke and Acts and the relationship of these two books. This will lay a foundation for surveying several important theological themes found in Luke-Acts. Finally, this course will explore the use of Luke-Acts in contemporary biblical and constructive theology through research, interpretation, and theological synthesis. Course Purpose and Context: This course is part of the offerings for Asbury's Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Luke-Acts forms approximately one-third of the NT. Acts in particular is unique for its narrative of the early church in the NT. Therefore, trained scholars in Biblical Studies should be familiar with its contents, theological emphases, and history of interpretation. This course stands alongside the study of other major blocks of material in the canon, deals specifically with hermeneutical issues between text and theology, and picks up the history of interpretation in the modern period where the seminar in the history of biblical interpretation ends. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: State the major issues that shaped the interpretation of Luke-Acts in the ancient and modern contexts and explain how these issues continue to affect the interpretation of Luke's opus.